Monday, May 10, 2010

Some thoughts on Heaven

On Sunday, I took a completely different approach to preaching. Ben Delong's dad, who is himself a pastor, called it "treaching." I did some typical monologue stuff but I also opened it up for dialogue several times as I went along. I think the stopping and asking for feedback came as a bit of a shock, but I hope it will catch on. I'm also open to ideas for being more engaging. I'm much more skilled and rehearsed in giving a monologue than leading an informed discussion.

I also shared some thoughts on Heaven, hoping to reclaim the biblical idea of heaven from the western (think Plato and greek philosophy).

Leading the way in this discussion is NT Wright. Here is a short video on the subject.I'd encourage you to check out the related videos on the right hand column.

Or I could just embed it...

Finally, here's a quote from Surprised by Hope that I was going to share on Sunday but ran out of time:

"There is ultimately no justification for a private piety that doesn't work out in actual mission, just as there is ultimately no justification for people who use their activism in the social, cultural, or political sphere as a screen to prevent them from facing the same challenges within their own lives - the challenge, that is, of God's kingdom, of Jesus' lordship, and of the Spirit's empowering. If the gospel isn't transforming you, how do you know that it will transform anything else?"